The next 'Stranger Things' novel is a Chief Hopper detective story

Stranger Things season 3 won't be coming out until Independence Day, but you can get your Upside Down fix way before it lands on Netflix. The sci-fi hit's first companion novel entitled Suspicious Minds just came out a few days ago, but Netflix has already announced a second one called Darkness on the Edge of Town. The second novel will drop on June 4th, a full month before season 3 becomes available for streaming, giving you enough time to finish and digest the prequel novel before diving into the new episodes.

Suspicious Minds takes us back to the summer of 1969 and tells the tale of how Eleven's mother (and Hawkins, Indiana, where the series is set) got involved with government project MKULTRA. Meanwhile, Darkness on the Edge of Town tells the origin story of Chief Hopper as a homicide detective in New York City back in 1977.

Author Adam Christopher didn't talk about Darkness at length on his announcement, but here's how Netflix describes it: "When Eleven gets curious about unanswered questions, Hopper is forced to reckon with some long-buried secrets." As a nice bonus, both prequel novels come with on-theme front covers that wouldn't look out of place next to Stephen King's books from the '80s.

Guess what? I wrote a @Stranger_Things novel! New York, 1977, and Jim Hopper finds himself in a city turned upside-down...

Here's some big @StrangerThings news. The REAL (official, canonical!) story of Jim Hopper is coming to a bookstore near you. When Eleven gets curious about unanswered questions, Hopper is forced to reckon with some long-buried secrets. And, you know me. I love secrets. pic.twitter.com/CSGdkCVyaj